Advice for disabled actors from Zak Ford-Williams, Actors’ & Performers’ Yearbook 2024
In this exclusive article, actor Zak Ford-Williams offers advice to disabled actors on navigating the industry.
Actors and Performers
Introducing… The Need for Words
Find your voice with Patsy Rodenburg’s seminal work on words – featuring a brilliant foreword by the late Antony Sher – which offers practical ways to approach language, Shakespeare, Romantic poetry, modern prose, and much more.
Introducing… The Improv Illusionist
Develop your improv skills through solo and group work with over 50 exercises and practical techniques featured in this book for being more physical on stage.
Listen to our podcast episode on Black British Queer Plays and Practitioners
Journey through the development of Black queer theatre in Britain, from monologue to musicals, realist drama to club-performance, and a wide range of forms.
Introducing… The Actor Speaks
Legendary voice coach Patsy Rodenburg’s essential guide to voice work for actors who want to reach the pitch, passion and vocal intensity that the best roles require.
Introducing… From Craft to Career
A guidebook on what it takes to become an industry pro, full of in-depth insight into the casting process within television, film and theatre.
Introducing… Speechwork for Actors
An ideal speech-training resource for the 21st-century actor which includes specially commissioned online videos demonstrating key exercises.
Introducing… The Woman’s Voice
A call to arms to women about reclaiming their voices, combining elements of experience and practice from Patsy Rodenburg’s prolific career.
Introducing… Hear Me Now, Volume Two
An essential tool for actors of colour to showcase their range, and seeks to inspire, empower, and create a legacy for generations to come.
Introducing… The Right to Speak
A landmark book by one of the world’s foremost voice and acting coaches, containing exercises and practical tips with a step-by-step approach to using the voice effectively.
Top picks from Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022
Many Methuen Drama authors will be premiering new work and reviving recent classics throughout this Fringe. Here is a run-down to help ensure you don’t miss your next festival-favourite!
Introducing… Performing for Motion Capture
The first all-encompassing guide for the next generation of performers working specifically for motion capture, featuring contributions from practitioners working across the globe.
The key principles of hip hop
An essential guide to the new, explosive synthesis of hip hop and theatre which covers vocal technique, use of equipment, mixing, looping, sampling, working with venues and dealing with creative challenges.
Introducing… Inside the Rehearsal Room
A practical guide that ultimately demystifies the rehearsal process and challenges how the rehearsal room should be run in the 21st century, drawing on professional practice and underpinned by theory.
How to master your Shakespeare audition
Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday this year with an excerpt from Mastering the Shakespeare Audition, which shows performers how to make the most of their rehearsal time in the lead up to an audition.
Introducing… The Vocal Arts Workbook
For over 10 years, performers and practitioners have used The Vocal Arts Workbook to develop vocal power, range, and flexibility through through structured and informed methods.
Nancy Bishop on auditioning for film and TV post #MeToo
Legendary casting director Nancy Bishop offers actionable advice on audition technique, scene analysis, and online casting, as well as aiding actors in landing the part.
Annie Morrison on The Moment of Speech
Legendary voice instructor and creator of the Morrison Bone Prop, Annie Morrison, has put her modernising practice to paper, sharing her transformative process in The Moment of Speech: Creative Articulation for Actors.
An interview with Cherrelle Skeete, from the Actors’ & Performers’ Yearbook 2022
In this exclusive interview, actress Joan Iyiola talks to Cherrelle Skeete, co-founder and Artistic Director of Blacktress UK, a network that supports Black womxn creatives by providing them with a community.
Anne Bogart on The Art of Resonance
In this exclusive extract, Anne Bogart breaks down the art of ‘resonance’: defining what it is, highlighting why it matters, and explaining how the ‘global situation’ of 2020 spurred her into writing.
Introducing… 30 Monologues and Duologues for South Asian Actors
The Kali Theatre celebrates 30 years of producing art with 30 monologues and duologues written by South Asian women.
Introducing… Voiceover Narration
Dian Perry uses decades of experience to offer simple exercises for great narrators and voiceover artists.
Introducing… Unusual Stories, Unusually Told
Celebrating the boldest American voices today is this collection of seven plays from Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks.
Introducing… The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays
An anthology of plays from trans playwrights establishes a canon of contemporary American trans theatre.
Introducing… the Arden Performance Companions
A new series of practical guides to performing Shakespeare’s plays for actors, directors, teachers and students.
Introducing… The Lost Plays
Five new plays that had their productions stopped due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
An extract from Clown: The Physical Comedian – introducing The Look
Read this Extract from Clown: The Physical Comedian, Introduction, The Word and The Look
Extract from Voice into Acting, Chapter One: The Organic Acting Approach and the Voice
Read this Extract from Voice Into Acting, Chapter One: The Organic Acting Approach and the Voice
Extract from Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2021
Read this interview from the Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2021 with David Mumeni on levelling the playing field for actors from working- and benefit- class backgrounds.
Extract from the introduction of Di and Viv and Rose by Elizabeth Kuti
Read this extract from the introduction of Di and Viv and Rose by Elizabeth Kuti, from Methuen Drama’s Modern Classics series.
“The Passport Thing” – a monologue from My White Best Friend
Read this monologue The Passport Thing by Iman Qureshi, taken from My White Best Friend, a collection of letters from some of the most exciting voices in the UK and beyond, edited by Rachel De-lahay.
An extract from Movement Directors in Contemporary Theatre: Conversations on Craft by Ayse Tashkiran
Read extracts from Ann Yee’s conversation with Ayse Tashkiran, author of Movement Directors in Contemporary Theatre: Conversations on Craft
Different Actors, Different Bodies – extract from Rethinking the Actor’s Body: Dialogues with Neuroscience
Read an extract from Rethinking the Actor’s Body: Dialogues with Neuroscience by Dick McCaw, published by Methuen Drama earlier this year.
Find Your Next Audition Piece: Modern Plays with Original Monologues
We’ve put together a selection of recent hit plays that all include fantastic new monologues for actors. Many can be used by actors of any age or gender and others are more specific.
Is there anybody there?: Working without the other actors
Read an extract from Screen Acting Skills by Roger Wooster and Paul Conway about how to work without other actors and develop skills for a screen career.
Music Fundamentals for Musical Theatre
Read two extracts from Christine Riley’s new book Music Fundamentals for Musical Theory which helps aspiring musical theatre performers get to grips with music basics.
Surviving Actors Conference 2020
Methuen Drama attends Surviving Actors Conference 2020 featuring a special guest panel by Julie Hesmondhalgh, talking about life as an actor.
Acting Essentials: Introduction to the Alexander Technique
Read an extract from Bill Connington’s new book in Methuen Drama’s Acting Essential Series introducing actors to the Alexander Technique through practical study.
Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2020
Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2020 is now on sale, featuring updated essential contacts for stage, screen and radio along with fresh advice from industry experts.
Ten Steps to Launch Your Acting Career
Actor Rob Ostlere offers essential advice from his book The Actor’s Career Bible for any actors launching their career.
The Opera Singer’s Acting Toolkit
Read an extract from Martin Constantine’s new book The Opera Singer’s Acting Toolkit which offers opera singers an essential guide to creating a role on stage.
A Beginners Guide to Devising Theatre
Read about the Methuen Drama plays and authors performing at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe including Baby Reindeer by Richard Gadd.
Methuen Drama at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Read about the Methuen Drama plays and authors performing at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe including Baby Reindeer by Richard Gadd.
Methuen Drama: 60 Years of Modern Plays
Celebrate 60 Years of Methuen Drama’s Modern Plays series with this special edition box set of titles as voted for by the public.
Working Towards Success: Rob Ostlere, The Actor’s Career Bible
Actor Rob Ostlere offers helpful advice from his new book The Actor’s Career Bible
Acting Exercises for 8-18 Year Olds
Read sample exercises from Samantha Marsden’s new book 100 Acting Exercises for 8-18 year olds to inspire classroom and drama club participation.
Staging Musicals: Director Matthew White on Researching a Musical
Read an extract from director Matthew White’s new book Staging Musicals in which he discusses the research process for the creative team.
Julie Hesmondhalgh a Working Diary
Read an extract from actor and activist Julie Hesmondhalgh’s Working Diary which documents a year in her life.
Surviving Actors 2019
Methuen Drama attend the Surviving Actors 2019 conference in London. Read about our day and seminar with Daniel Dresner.
‘If in Doubt’ Rules For Letter and Email Writing
As with most things in the acting world there is no ‘right way’ when it comes to putting a letter or email together. The following advice comes from interviews I’ve carried out with various actors, casting directors, agents and other industry experts; basic rules you can fall back on when in doubt, that will leave you something professional and effective.
10 Tips from the Master of Impro!
For the last 2 weeks of June 2014, I was in Calgary working with Keith Johnstone (as his Literary Executor) preparing and packing his personal archive (or a portion of it) for shipment to Stanford University where The Keith Johnstone Papers will be permanently housed.
The Similarities Between Acting on Stage and Acting on Camera
Film and stage are quite similar in that they both are looking for truthful behavior within imaginary circumstances, or to quote Stanislavski, “Actors must live privately in public” regardless of medium.
Beyond #metoo
In October 2017, the The New York Times published an article accusing Hollywood film mogul Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual harassment and assault. The entertainment industry’s apparent astonishment caused actress Alyssa Milano to tweet, “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”
Interview with Andy Blankenbuehler
This interview is an excerpt taken from Creating Musical Theatre: Conversations with Broadway Directors and Choreographers (2013), by Lyn Cramer.
CRAMER: I want to ask you about choreographic approach
Finding an Agent
With so many agents to choose from, it’s wise to spend time on researching which ones to target. Of course, you’ll get ideas from teachers and friends, but you should also spend time looking at websites – unless you’re prepared to spend a small fortune on postage and other costs.
Choosing the Right Agent for You
Agencies come in all shapes and sizes. Larger, well-established West End concerns certainly have the attraction of the star names they represent, and if they offer you a place it could work for you. They will have the first look at film scripts, and the international cachet.
Agents and what they do
Actors without agents tend to lack credibility in the eyes of potential employers. It’s not fair, but it’s a fact. However hard you work at getting to know potential employers, most agents have their fingers closer to the pulse, know what’s coming up, and simply have far more contacts than you can ever have. That’s their job.